The Most Picturesque Towns In Alabama

Eufaula keeps 700-plus structures on the National Register, the second-largest historic district in Alabama. Magnolia Springs runs the only year-round river-route mail delivery in the country. Mentone sits at the highest incorporated elevation in the state. Dauphin Island logged 350-plus migratory bird species at the Audubon Sanctuary last season. The eight towns ahead each pull a different lever, with practical anchors that hold up across a working weekend or a longer stay.

Orange Beach

Orange Beach occupies the eastern end of Pleasure Island on Alabama's Gulf Coast, with about 8 miles of sugar-white sand opening directly onto the Gulf of Mexico. Gulf State Park covers 6,500 acres immediately west of town with a 2-mile beachfront, a 1,540-foot fishing pier (one of the longest on the Gulf), and 28 miles of paved bike and hiking trails through coastal pine and freshwater wetlands. Adventure Island packs glow golf, arcade games, go-karts, a flight school simulator, and tidal coasters into a single family stop on Perdido Beach Boulevard. The Alabama Gulf Coast Zoo houses more than 100 species across birds, mammals, reptiles, and invertebrates, with rescued lemurs, lions, sloths, and clouded leopards. Cobalt The Restaurant and Cosmo's Restaurant & Bar both pull steady weekend crowds on the waterfront.

Magnolia Springs

Magnolia Springs sits 30 minutes north of the Gulf Coast and runs the only year-round river-route mail delivery in the United States. The US Postal Service has delivered mail by boat along the Magnolia River since 1916, with a route that covers about 31 mailboxes mounted on private docks. Magnolia Springs Bed and Breakfast occupies an 1897 inn with original stained glass and woodwork from the Victorian era. Fairhope Charters runs guided fishing trips and sunset cruises out of nearby marinas with bait and tackle included. Jesse's Restaurant, a longtime local fixture set inside a 1920s general store, serves fresh Gulf seafood at the heart of the village.

Mentone

Mentone sits on top of Lookout Mountain at about 1,772 feet elevation, the highest incorporated town in Alabama. Brow Park provides one of the better sunset stops in the state, with picnic tables and several open overlooks above the Tennessee Valley. The Mentone Arts Center hosts year-round workshops in photography, painting, songwriting, and pottery alongside a gallery of locally made goods. Moon Lake Trading Company stocks perennials, annuals, trees, and shrubs along with antiques and folk art across multiple buildings on the main road. The Mentone Inn, operating continuously since 1928, anchors one of the town's most recognizable historic blocks and runs both rooms and a restaurant.

Fort Payne

Fort Payne sits between Sand Mountain and Lookout Mountain at the head of Little River Canyon, one of the deepest canyon systems east of the Mississippi at depths exceeding 600 feet. DeSoto State Park covers roughly 3,500 acres on Lookout Mountain and includes the 104-foot DeSoto Falls, one of Alabama's tallest year-round waterfalls. Little River Canyon National Preserve sits just south of town with sandstone cliffs and one of the cleanest river systems in the region, running entirely on top of Lookout Mountain. The Fort Payne Depot Museum occupies a Richardsonian Romanesque depot that served the Alabama Great Southern Railroad for about 85 years and is now on the National Register of Historic Places. The town is also home to the Alabama Fan Club and Museum, dedicated to the country band that put Fort Payne on the music map in the early 1980s.

Dauphin Island

Dauphin Island anchors the western entrance to Mobile Bay with white-sand beaches, Civil War-era forts, and an Audubon-designated bird stopover. The 137-acre Audubon Bird Sanctuary has logged more than 350 species across spring and fall migrations and is one of the most important migratory landfall sites along the entire Gulf of Mexico. Fort Gaines, built in the 1820s using approximately three million bricks, has guarded the bay entrance for more than 150 years and saw heavy action at the 1864 Battle of Mobile Bay (the engagement that prompted Admiral David Farragut's famous "Damn the torpedoes" order). The Alabama Aquarium covers four coastal habitats: the Barrier Islands, the Mobile-Tensaw River Delta, the Northern Gulf, and Mobile Bay itself. Indian Shell Mound Park preserves a Mississippian-era shell midden that reflects centuries of Native habitation along the island.

Guntersville

Guntersville sits on Alabama's largest lake at 69,100 acres and 75 miles long. Lake Guntersville was created in 1939 when the Tennessee Valley Authority completed the Guntersville Dam, and the lake is now consistently ranked among the top 10 largemouth bass fisheries in the United States by Bassmaster Magazine. Gunter's Landing Golf Club runs an 18-hole course alongside tennis courts and a pool. The Whole Backstage Theatre is the town's all-volunteer community stage with plays running through most of the year. The Soak House & Soapery offers mineral soaks, facials, custom massage, and infrared saunas for a slower afternoon. Lake Guntersville State Park covers 6,000 acres of bluff country above the lake and runs an annual Eagle Awareness Weekend in January built around the dozens of bald eagles that winter on the reservoir.

Eufaula

Eufaula occupies bluffs above the 45,000-acre Lake Eufaula on the Chattahoochee River, with one of Alabama's most active bass-fishing scenes and the official nickname "Big Bass Capital of the World." The downtown holds more than 700 structures on the National Register of Historic Places, the second-largest historic district in the state after Mobile. Shorter Mansion, completed in its current Neoclassical form by 1906 after a fire-related rebuild, anchors the Greek Revival side of the district with massive Corinthian columns. Fendall Hall shows the Italianate side, with restored interior murals from the 1880s by Italian artist Lorenzo Nuotari and a furnished Italianate footprint. Lakepoint State Park on Lake Eufaula adds camping, boat launches, a marina, golf, and a 101-room lodge.

Fairhope

Fairhope edges the eastern shore of Mobile Bay with a quarter-mile municipal pier and a downtown built around art galleries and waterfront walks. The Fairhope Municipal Pier extends 1,448 feet into the bay with a rose garden, marina, and pavilion at its foot. Fairhope Brewing Company pours craft beer with weekend live music and tours of its 30-barrel, three-vessel brewhouse. Weeks Bay National Estuarine Research Reserve protects more than 9,000 acres of wetlands with rare wildlife including the Alabama red-bellied turtle (the state reptile) and the eastern indigo snake. The town was founded in 1894 as a utopian single-tax colony based on Henry George's economic theories, and that independent streak still shows along Section Street.

The Read on Alabama

Sailing the Magnolia River, walking Eufaula's 700-plus historic structures, watching sunsets above Lookout Mountain from Brow Park, casting for bass on Lake Guntersville's 69,100 acres. The eight towns above each pull a different lever. Some sit on the coast, some hold the mountains, several anchor serious history, and all eight hold up beyond a single weekend.